Finding Her Way Page 6

  Out of the corner of my eye I see him slide his palm over his thigh. His massive thigh that seems to ripple under the touch. My own palms get sweatier and tremble, as I tighten my hold on the steering wheel.

  “Where are you from?”

  “Pittsburgh. And you?”

  “I was born in New York, but now live in Connecticut.”

  He’s quiet for a moment so I chance a look in his direction and find his eyes pinned on me.

  “What?” I ask, wondering why he’s staring at me with skepticism.

  My eyes return to the road, but I see the movement as he lifts his shoulders in a shrug.

  “I don’t know. You’re not like the other people I’ve met from Connecticut. You don’t have that air about you.”

  Turning into the long drive up to the house, I can’t help but smile.

  “I’ve heard that before. Considering my name means princess, I get called that a lot. That’s a pretty big stereotype, though, don’t you think?”

  He leans closer, even though our bodies are pretty close to begin with, and his warm breath is right at my neck. His woodsy, soapy scent permeates the air of the car and I breathe him in.

  “Oh, you mean like the one you had about me when you learned I play hockey?”

  I put the car in park and my mouth gapes open.

  “What? I never…”

  His brows shoot up and there’s an edge of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

  “Most people think I’m either a dumb jock or a player. That’s okay, though, because I can generally dispel the myths once they get to know me.”

  I watch as he slides out of the car and then all I can see are the tree trunks of his legs from my vantage point.

  He has a point. Although I didn’t make any assumptions about him being a jock, I did assume he was something he isn’t based on just his name. How stupid was that? It makes me feel like a complete and utter judgmental ass, especially since he could have made the wrong assertions about me.

  As I step out and around the back of the car, Preston’s hand is suddenly at my face, whisking away a flyaway strand of my hair.

  “I hope you’re interested in getting to know me.” His green-blue eyes sparkle as he smiles down at me. My breath hitches as I part my lips, hoping for a kiss that doesn’t come.

  Instead he leaves me hanging and pulls the bags out of the trunk and into the house as I stare after him, turned on and perplexed.

  Preston

  I should’ve kissed her.

  Goddammit, I’m kicking myself for hesitating and then the moment was gone. Lola was bounding down out of the house calling our names.

  When Brinly looked up at me with those big blue eyes and long lashes, and her chest heaved as her lips parted just slightly, I wanted to taste her. Push her against the back of the car and kiss her perfectly pouty lips until she trembled in my arms with need.

  If I’d been playing hockey, that would’ve been a missed shot on goal. A game ending mistake.

  Instead, I marched in toward the front of the house and allowed her to lead the way into the room where we’d drop off her things. I was thankful I had the bags held in front of me because I had a hard-on the size of this mansion.

  “This place is ginormous,” I spout as we traverse the huge curving staircase up to the second floor. Looking down the hallway, I see dozens of doors – some open, some closed – on both sides of the open foyer below. “Someone actually lived here at some point?”

  Brinly’s slight shoulders raise in thoughtful response. “I guess, but I don’t know when. The house was bought by Stacy Barren’s parents a few years ago and I think they’ve been slowly fixing it up to flip and put back on the market. But word is that it’s haunted…”

  She stops in front of an open doorway, turning to me with a soft smile. “This is our bedroom.”

  A blush creeps up into her already rosy cheeks. It’s cute that she’s embarrassed by what she just said. Implying we were going to “use” the bedroom instead of just decorate it.

  It’s large and even in the daylight is creepy. There are little alcoves in the corners of the room and what looks like a turret window of sorts. I don’t know much about architecture, especially the nuances of homes built in the 1800’s. It smells musty and has old wood paneling around the walls that give it a faint oaky scent. Reminds me of my grandfather’s cabin in the woods near the Allegheny mountains in Pennsylvania.

  The scent conjures up a sudden feeling of homesickness that I hadn’t felt in a really long time. Brinly seems to notice as she turns to me with a concerned expression.

  “You okay, Preston? This place isn’t really haunted you know. I was just kidding.”

  I chuckle, placing the bags I carry down next to hers, so our feet are separated only by a few inches. Deciding to play along with the haunted theme, I place a stark, scared look across my face, lifting my brows and opening my mouth in a gaping O. I stare at nothing over her shoulder and behind her, pointing with a shaky hand.

  “Are you sure? Then what’s that behind you? Oh my God, Brin. Watch out!”

  She shrieks loudly, spinning around and stepping into me. I wrap my arms around her shoulders and press her back into my torso.

  Her brown sugar and vanilla scent suffuse my nostrils, as I take a giant whiff at her neck, holding her close, her body trembling in my arms.

  “You made that way too easy for me.” I coo against her soft earlobe, which I want to bite and taste and lick.

  She huffs out a laugh, her tiny fist trying to get a good punch into my thigh.

  “Gah! That was so mean of you!”

  Brinly struggles in vain but I don’t release her. Not yet.

  “I’m not mean, you’re just gullible.”

  This time as she wiggles and flails, I loosen my hold and she rotates in my arms providing me with her best impression of tough, poking me with a dainty finger in my pec.

  “I. Am. Not. Gullible.” She emphasizes each spoken syllable with a jab. The laughter rumbles up from my chest at her innocence.

  “God, you’re so cute.”

  I wrap my fingers around her finger, tightening my arm slung around her waist and drop my face to hers. I’m not letting this opportunity slide by. I stare down into her face and notice her cheekbones tinged pink.

  My lips hover inches from hers and she’s about to refute what I said, but instead, I swallow her words with my mouth.

  Her lush lips soften against mine, as her warm hand slips around the back of my neck. It’s a gentle, lingering kiss, yet it holds power and enough electricity to light up this dim room.

  Dropping her finger, I cup her jaw, my thumb stroking against her soft cheek as I feel a smile form across her face.

  I don’t want to end the kiss, but once again the voice of Lola comes calling up the stairway.

  “I’m taking off, Brin. I’ll catch ya later! And nice to meet you, Preston.”

  I clear my throat, my voice hoarse and a little raspy.

  “Yeah, you too, Lola. See ya round.”

  “Bye Lo!”

  The moment is over and Brin steps back to allow some modicum of space between us, even though I can still feel her body heat.

  She places a hand across her heart and sighs, biting down on her full lip. “Wow. My heart is beating so fast.”

  I grin because that makes me happy to hear. “Good. Mine too.”

  “Um, so…” she suddenly looks a little frazzled, scanning the room uneasily. “I guess we’re good here for now. We should probably go.”

  “Yeah, sure. Of course. Let’s go.”

  I usher her out toward the hallway but stop her with a squeeze of my hand at her wrist.

  “Brinly, can I…will you go out with me?”

  She doesn’t turn or look at me right away, but when she finally does turn around, her head is bent down toward the floor. I gently cup her chin and tip it so I can look in her eyes. If she’s going to turn me down, I want it at least to be eye-to-eye when I rec
eive the crushing blow.

  “Unless, you don’t want to?”

  “No…I mean, yes. I mean, I don’t know.”

  I’ll admit, I’m a little confused and have no idea what she means. Tilting my head, I chuckle, furrowing my brow.

  “Okay, you lost me. Yes, you want to go out with me? Or no, you don’t?”

  She rolls her eyes. “Yes, I do want to go out with you, but I’m not sure I can. I mean, I’m your tutor and all.”

  Ah. Now I see where this is going.

  I step in close so we’re practically chest to chest and lean down, kissing her cheek and then moving to the shell of her ear. With her hair up, it allows me access to the sensitive skin at the base of her neck. I barely touch it with my lips, but her skin singes me regardless. She’s electrifying.

  “I promise I won’t let it interfere and we’ll keep things separate. Please say yes, Brinly. Don’t make me beg.”

  The irony in my statement is that I would beg in a second if I had to. I’d get down on my knees in front of this beautiful girl and make a complete and utter fool of myself if it would win me a date with her.

  I continue peppering kisses – pecks, really, across her flesh and enjoy the goosebumps that form there.

  As if shaking off a stupor, she jumps out of my arms and steps back as I straighten to my full height, eying her skeptically. Patiently.

  “I’d like to go out with you, Preston. As long as things don’t get weird or cause a distraction during your tutoring session.”

  Her answer thrills me, and I pick her up – all five-foot-three of her – swinging her around as she laughs.

  “Thank you. You made my week. I can die a happy man.”

  I drop her to her feet and she swats me. “Don’t talk like that! We at least have to go on our date before you keel over.”

  Following behind her, I watch her bouncy steps as we descend the stairway and out to the car. She has slight curves and a natural, feminine sway to her hips. Flirty and sweet.

  And sexy as fuck.

  Brinly

  “Is Prince Charming going to be your date to the haunted house?”

  My head pops up from the table where I’ve been researching, reading and writing an essay on the aspects of gender and sexuality in contemporary literature for the last two hours. Maddie stands next to me, hands on her hips that jut to the side, staring down at me expectantly.

  I shrug my shoulder and set down my highlighter, rubbing my temple where a low-grade headache has been gathering.

  “By Prince Charming, I can only assume you mean Preston?”

  She rolls her eyes sarcastically. “Well, der. Word around campus is you’ve spent an awful lot of time with a certain hockey player. So, what gives?”

  Just then, Lola walks by in stocking feet and pj’s, with a bowl of popcorn in her hands. I give her the evil eye and she widens her eyes and shakes her head, silently saying, “Wasn’t me.”

  While it’s true, I have been spending a lot of my time with Preston – or as much as we can between his practices, games, schoolwork and my extra-curricular activities – I’ve been trying to keep it on the down low.

  I’ve never been a girl who likes to flaunt myself in front of others. I’ll take the back seat to my friends and their accomplishments, as I quietly go about my business. Maybe it’s because all my life I was left in the shadows by my mother while she worked sixteen hours a day and traveled the world on business, only bringing me along to show me off at parties or events.

  I can’t stand the spotlight. Even now under the scrutinizing stare of my friend, I want to slink back into the corner and avoid any direct mention of my personal life.

  It’s bad enough she knows I’m a virgin along with all my other sorority sisters.

  “He asked me out. I said yes. Not much else to it.”

  Downplaying and evading the question only seems to rev up Maddie’s engines further. She bends to sit down, scooting me over on the bench seat with the bump of her butt.

  “I need the juicy details, Brin. Gimme gimme gimme.” She wiggles her fingers in a needy gesture.

  Dropping my head to the table in frustration, I sigh loudly. Painfully.

  “Fine,” I begrudgingly give in. “He helped me out the other day with the haunted house and then asked me out on a date. He’s been busy with out of town games, but we’re supposed to go out tomorrow night. And then depending on how that goes, I guess I’ll invite him to come with me to the haunted house on my volunteer night.”

  I return my focus onto my paper but get lost in my thoughts as my fingers trace over my lips where he kissed them.

  That kiss. Hands down the best kiss I’ve ever gotten.

  It was a knee-buckling, swoony, unicorn of a kiss that I’ve dreamt about all my life and never experienced until Preston.

  Not that I’ve had a whole lot of other experience. I’ve kissed exactly three guys. My first in high school at a football game after-party. The second was last year at a frat party, when I also gave him head. He was wasted and tasted like Cheetos and stale beer and passed out as soon as he came.

  Lucky #3 is Preston. And his kiss was perfect.

  “Ahem.” Maddie stands there tapping her stocking foot, her arms crossed the way opposing counsel would cross-examine a witness. “That’s it? That’s all I get?”

  Sighing heavily, I pick up my stack of books and paper and turn to head upstairs, lifting my shoulders and sticking my tongue out at her as I leave the room.

  I leave her with one final comment that I throw back.

  “You can help me get ready tomorrow night if you want.”

  All I hear is her giddily clapping her hands and squealing for joy.

  I was a wreck all day long and lacked any skills I’d once had in concentration. My head was in the clouds thinking about tonight.

  “Stop fidgeting or I’ll burn you with this curling wand.” Maddie tugs at a ringlet of hair to get my attention.

  “Ow! Careful there. I’d like to have some hair left tonight.”

  Lola sits in front of me applying my makeup with a skillful hand. I stare into her soft brown eyes and realize how thankful I am to have such good friends.

  Sure, we’ve had spats and arguments in the house since I’ve lived here, but the beauty of being part of a sorority is that we all have each other’s backs. It’s a sisterhood and bond I’ve never had before growing up an only child with a mother who was never around.

  “You guys are the best. I can’t thank you enough.” I say, the emotion choking me up and drawing tears to my eyes.

  Lola gives me a look of horror, pointing an accusatory index finger at me. “Don’t you dare cry and ruin your makeup.”

  Handing me a tissue, I dab at the corner of my eye, a watery smile forming at my red-stained lips. “I couldn’t do this without you both. It means everything to me.”

  Maddie scoffs behind me. “You are such a sentimental wanker.” But she bends down and hugs me, nonetheless.

  “Okay, you’re all ready. The transformation is complete.” Lola removes the towel that was thrown around my shoulders like a cape and stands so I can get a good look in the mirror.

  Maddie sniffs, a wicked grin at the corners of her lips. “Would you look at our baby girl, Lo? She’s all grown up.”

  My hands tremble as I draw them down the front of my skirt. My long dark hair is curled and coiled to perfection, hanging down my back and over my shoulders. The mascara and eye make-up Lola used makes my eyes pop with color, as she put it. And the sweater I’ve borrowed from Maddie matches the color of my irises. A bright, brilliant blue.

  “Wow.” Is all I can say at the way they transformed me.

  “He’s gonna want to eat you up.”

  Lola winks and taps a finger on her chin. “There’s something missing. Hold on.”

  We watch her rummage through her jewelry box and she pulls out a pair of earrings. They are dangling aquamarine topaz that shimmer and sparkle with a little bit of silver. />
  “Here, these will go perfectly.”

  I accept the offer and put them on just as we hear a voice calling me from downstairs.

  My eyes go wide, staring at both Maddie and Lola.

  “Your Prince awaits.”

  Swallowing down my nerves, I slide into my heeled boots and zip them up, gathering up my confidence and willing away my nerves.

  “Here we go.” Ready or not.

  Preston

  Stunning.

  Brinly is absolutely gorgeous and my mouth goes dry the moment she descends from the stairs and I get a good look at her.

  “Wow, you look beautiful,” I mumble in awe, holding open the door to my car. I get a peek of her thigh as she slides into the passenger seat, her skirt shifting above her knee as she does.

  When she looks up at, she takes my breath away.

  “Thank you. You look handsome, too.”

  As I walk around to the opposite side of the car, I try to regulate my breaths and racing heart. I shouldn’t be this nervous for a first date. I’ve dated girls before, it’s not that difficult. But something inside me wants to make it perfect for Brinly tonight. I already know I want more than just one and I hope by the end of the night, she feels the same way.

  I start the ignition and glance over my shoulder to back out. My eyes can’t help but admire her profile. Smooth skin, soft cheeks, perfectly pointed chin, and her tits. Holy shit. That sweater fits her like second-skin. My fingers twitch to touch her. To run my hands over the curve of her breast, to play with the hardened buds of her nipples.

  Clearing my throat and my thoughts, I refocus on the road.

  “Where are you taking me tonight?” she asks, her hands clasped in her lap.

  I’m hoping by the end of the night those hands will be in my lap and I can take her to bed with me. Unfortunately, though, I don’t think Brinly is that quick to jump in the sack with someone. I can only hope for more of those kisses like we shared the other day.

  “The Fall Festival.”

  I sneak a glance at her to see what she thinks of this idea and the smile on her lips tells me it’s a-go. The college town hosts an annual fall festival, complete with rides, games and fair foods every year before the weather turns cold and winter is bustled in.